My World and the Real World

I miss biking

It has been a while. There is no thump or a roar in my ears. With a neck problem, that has become chronic over the months, doctor has asked me to lay off my motorcycle. I miss my bike.

My tiger is waiting, resting , crouching, ready to leap at any moment. The Thunderbird (the Indian Harley) is one of my most prized possessions, we had been through great adventures, painful scars, happy moments, emotional times.

We were with friends and strangers.

We were out alone.

We faced the winter and braved the summer.

We saw sunrise and sunset. Together from dawn till dusk.

We traveled the whole day and the whole night.

We did not stop for food or drink .

Sometimes, there was a plan, most times the destination was made on the way.

None came between us, except for the highway.

I miss you.

With you, once again, I will be the king of the road.

My last trip was a solo, 1100km round-trip, completed in 48 hours. It started with turbulence in my mind and ended up giving me peace, this blissful journey through daylight and under moonlight.

In the one year since I had my bike, I did

1) Won the 3rd place in a Drag Race.

2) 3 solo trips, two of them through the night. That is a total of 2000+ kms, spending almost 50 hours on the highway, alone!

3) 1 group ride of 1100 kms from Hyderabad-Bangalore-ooty with 20+ Enfielders. We went to a bikers convention where 500 bikers showed up from all over India.

4) 4 short trips (less than 200 kms) with a party of 2 or 3 bikers.

5) Fell from the bike doing a stunt on my 10-day old shiny new Thunderbird and broke my right arm.

This week

It was indeed a busy and eventful year for me and the T-Bird. Few days ago, I had to use my bike again.

I felt guilty for neglecting it, it had been more than month. I hoped that the bike would start without problems, expectantly the battery was almost dead, after couple of kicks, the engine started and slowly caught on. The roar was back. I rolled out of the house.

The feeling was back, the thump was great, the bike was throbbing with unused massive amounts of power. The throttle was ready for a spin of my hand and I leaped. Heads were turning again.